PGCPS Student Shot Near Suitland High School; Search for Gunman Underway

A bullet flew through the window of a school building with a student and teacher inside

A high school student opened fire near a high school in Prince George’s County, Maryland, Friday afternoon, shooting a fellow student and sending a bullet through the window of a school building, police say.

The student fired multiple shots in an apartment building parking lot within sight of Suitland High School in District Heights, police said.

The search for the shooter is ongoing.

A teen boy was shot in the leg and is expected to recover.
The school was placed on a lockdown that later was lifted.
Many parents rushed to the school, fearful that their children had been shot.

“Police can’t tell you anything, the school can’t call parents and let anybody know anything,” one mother said, nearly in tears. She said she had two daughters who attend the school.

Upon learning that boys had been involved in the shooting, not girls, the mother exhaled and clutched her hand to her chest.
“Thank you,” she said.

According to the initial investigation, a group of students left the school and argued in the apartment building parking lot, a Prince George’s County Police Department spokeswoman said.
One student opened fire and hit the teen. A classmate dragged him into the high school for help.

Prince George’s County police and fire and rescue was called to the scene about 12 p.m. Soon after, they found the victim near the school annex building, which houses art and music classes.
He was taken to a hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.

Police later found a bullet lodged in the ceiling of that school building. A student and a teacher were inside the classroom but were not hurt.

At least five shell casings were found.

Suitland High is a performing arts school known for its students’ achievements.

A witness told News4 he saw three students involved in the conflict: one who was shot, one who helped the victim and another who ran away.

Prince George’s County Fire Chief Marc Bashoor posted on Twitter that this was “NOT an active shooter” situation.

Police are still searching for the shooting suspect and that suspect is believed to be another student from Suitland high school.#NBC4DC pic.twitter.com/3kyqxSJjfT

— Tracee Wilkins (@TraceeWilkins) January 13, 2017

Police recover shell casings behind Suitland high school after one student is shot. The student is expected to be OK.#NBC4DC pic.twitter.com/CjKfF9iQYd

— Tracee Wilkins (@TraceeWilkins) January 13, 2017

“The investigation has moved into the neighborhoods, where we’re currently searching for the suspect,” Lt. David Coleman said.

Student Kelai’ah Wheelen said she just wanted to go home.
“It was terrifying,” she said.

Anyone with information for police is asked to call 301-772-4910. To leave a tip anonymously, call 866-411-TIPS, send a text message with PGPD plus your message to CRIMES or visit http://www.pgcrimesolvers.com.

Source: Student Shot Near Suitland High School; Search for Gunman Underway | NBC4 Washington http://www.nbcwashington.com/news/local/Student-Shot-Suitland-High-School-prince-georges-co-410650005.html#ixzz4VnEWjIue

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DC Parents Interview Teachers at New Rocketship Charter

Washington, D.C., is getting its first Rocketship charter school. The building is under construction, and parents who plan to send their child have been invited to interview prospective teachers.

Rocketship started in San, Jose, California, where it was a sensation for a while. The business model is that kids spend a lot of time in front of computers, monitored by inexperienced teachers, mostly TFA. No art, no music. John Merrow did a segment about it on PBS, wondering if this was the Henry Ford factory-style school of the future. The scores of the Rocketship charters were high, which brought them much acclaim. But then the scores faded, and community opposition impeded the chain’s expansion.

Here is a recent analysis from the Hechinger Report:http://www.tennessean.com/story/news/education/2015/07/05/rocketship-charter-network-criticized-overly-rigid/29646659/

But now Rocketship plans to open eight charters in DC. Very likely they are benefiting from the strong interest of the Walton Family Foundation in turning DC into another New Orleans: No public schools, private management, many TFA, no unions.

It is hard to believe that the Waltons actually believe that this model will have a dramatic effect on the children of DC. At present, DC has the largest achievement gaps of any urban district tested by NAEP.

The news here is not about parent involvement. The real news is that Kaya Henderson and the mayor of DC, who controls the schools, apparently have given up on public education and are prepared to privatize the public schools.

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Common Core generates bill to drop old tests in Md. public schools

Sen. Nancy King, D-Montgomery, the sponsor of the Senate companion bill she will introduce shortly to scrap the test

Emergency legislation to stop Maryland from administering a federally mandated student assessment test was introduced Thursday in the House of Delegates with strong bipartisan sponsorship.

The Maryland Student Assessment test (MSA) is slated to be phased out after this year, when it will be administered once more this spring. But the test is considered outdated because it doesn’t test for what students are learning in classrooms this year under the state’s new Common Core education curriculum.

Del. Eric Luedtke

“The MSA tests students on material they aren’t being taught, and takes away valuable teaching time to do it,” said Del. Eric Luedtke, D-Montgomery, the lead sponsor of the House bill. “It’s testing for the sake of testing, and we should not be giving it.”

The bill, which has 10 co-sponsors, including five Republicans, would require the state to request a waiver from the U.S. Department of Education  (DOE) to excuse Maryland from administering the MSA test this year. It costs the state $6 million to give the test.

The Maryland State Education Association (MSEA), a union which represents 71,000 public education employees across the state, asked the state education department to obtain such a waiver, but state officials said DOE offers no such waiver.

Read more:  http://marylandreporter.com/2014/01/09/common-core-generates-bill-to-drop-old-tests-in-md-public schools/#ixzz2q9ATbZw1 Under Creative Commons License: Attribution

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Dr. Lillian Lowery Embattled State Superintendent is currently presiding over deep-seated corruption in Maryland school system. She has demonstrated a culture of discrimination and racism while on the job.

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Standardized Tests Under Fire in Maryland

ROCKVILLE, Md. — The Maryland School Assessments, a set of standardized tests for elementary and middle-school students, are under fire by some parents, teachers, lawmakers and school officials who say the tests are outdated and meaningless in the age of Common Core academic standards.

Two state lawmakers from Montgomery County say they’re drafting bills asking the state to seek a waiver this school year from a federal requirement to give standardized tests.

“I’m just not convinced that giving a test for the sake of giving a test is the right thing,” state Sen. Nancy King, D-Montgomery, told The Washington Post.

Maryland State Superintendent of Schools Lillian Lowery opposes the move.

“Absolutely not,” Lowery said. >>> Read More CBS News

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Read our previous coverage here concerning a Montgomery County Teacher Ms. Tiferet Ani who started a Petition to stop Maryland School Assessments (MSA) this year.  As exhibited in her blog, the MSA tests are outdated and meaningless in the age of Common Core academic standards and a waste of Tax payer money. >>>Read More and sign up >>  Teacher of the Year.

Call your elected officials now and the media. Demand investigations and initiation of changes within the Maryland State Board of Education. Where there’s smoke, there’s fire!

In our opinion, We aver and therefore believe Maryland State Board of Education President Dr. Charlene Dukes shown here has demonstrated a culture of corrupt leadership style and continues “an integrated pattern of pay to play” and manipulation during her tenure. Both leaders need to resign to create room for new leadership.

Dr. Lillian Lowery Embattled State Superintendent is currently presiding over deep-seated corruption in Maryland school system. She has demonstrated a culture of discrimination and racism while on the job.

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MERRY CHRISTMAS and HAPPY HOLIDAYS

Read more about the homeless youth population on the rise in Maryland as their leaders above squander their money. >>Homeless Youth 

USE OF GRIEVANCE SYSTEM IN PGCPS.

  

USE OF GRIEVANCE SYSTEM IN PGCPS

The Grievance system is unique process that governs dispute resolutions in the schools.  Principal, supervisor are made aware of the grievance and can address it before it comes to the attention of the principal’s supervisor. If the grievance remains unresolved at Step 1, it then proceeds to the attention of the principal’s supervisor. The purpose of a grievance is generally to enforce the terms of a collective bargaining agreement between the unions.

The following unions in PGCPS District led by ASASP, PGCEA, ACE-AFSCME Local 2250 and SEIU Unions filed grievances on behalf of several members on several occasions. These grievances proceeded all the way up the chain of command for Prince George’s County Public school district to various managers, Directors and Chiefs, Superintendent William Hite Jr., Dr. Crawley who resigned recently and others also received grievances. However, the PGCPS management did nothing to address the discrimination, retaliation and other corrupt activities, despite being aware of the issues. The management failed to respond to any of the Union grievances filed by the Union because the Unions themselves are involved in questionable activities. It is this egregious conduct fueled by Thatcher Law firm corruption which has polarized the whole school District. The whole school District will never move forward until corrupt lawyers are cleansed from the system.

The terrorist attacks in 2001 were aimed not only at destroying buildings and human lives, but also at undermining Americans’ confidence in their government. While the terrorists’ attempts at the latter ultimately backfired, they did illustrate that our country is only as strong as the commitment of our people and leaders to protect the ideals upon which it is based: individual liberty, freedom of expression, and the ability to redress grievances through a system of laws rather than violence. When lawyers for the local board retaliate and acts unethically on behalf of the School District, when the unions appointed lawyers and other attorneys hired by staff are compromised, they undermine the rule of law and faith in the system. The image of lawyers is not just a matter of professional or personal pride; it affects the public’s belief in our justice system, and ultimately, our faith in our democracy. The fact that there has been so many cases in both the State and Federal courts filed against PGCPS by several employees in recent years, is a clear manifestation that there are many problems within the PG County School District. We must demand answers from our elected officials in regards to the Thatcher Law firm which is engaged in criminal conspiracy with Mr. Bryan A chapman, Mr. Damon Felton and others in defrauding staff within the PG County district.   One female employee who protested mistreatment of her colleagues was fired in the middle of her discovery case with malice rather than settle the dispute. There is a big possibility that she might never even win the case because of what her attorney did to the case in conjunction with the Thatcher Law Firm and Mr. Roger Thomas. Only time will tell.  It’s clear there’s a criminal cabal around the Thatcher Law Firm that’s giving deadly advice to lawyers hired by various personnel. The Book of Mark, 8:36, sternly asks: “What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul?”

Other PGCPS employees have been chased away recently like goats in the middle of Savanna after filing cases… Who does this to employees for exercising their rights and fighting for the rights of others? Who does this? Who else is involved in this criminal enterprise?  What happened to common decency ladies and Gentlemen?

In this school year, we pray that the new County Chief Executive Officer Dr. Kevin Maxwell is going to look into these issues with sincerity and demand a new beginning from a new set of attorneys committed to the rule of law in PG County. Time has come to move in the right direction with new leadership and a new agenda!

POWER POINT SLIDE -GRIEVANCE SYSTEM

Grievance and Grievance handling.

Methods of Bringing conflict into surface

Grievance?

Characteristics of a Grievance

Types of Grievances

Causes of Grievances

Causes for a Grievance

Need for Grievance procedure

Grievance Redressal system

Basic Element of Grievance Procedure

Steps in Handling Grievances

Steps in Handling Grievances

What are the punishment?

Grievance Frame Work

Do’s in handling grievances.

Do’s in handling grievances.